russ parsons

echo has moved and it has changed. i had dinner there this fall. the food is still pretty good, but the room is very, very different--very stage-setty. and the prices are about 1/3 higher, i think. somehow, with all the drapes and chandeliers, what seemed like charming simplicity at the old place comes across as something a little less, i'm afraid. too bad everything can't stay exactly the way we like it, i guess.

i've been brining turkey for more than 10 years now and, to be honest, all those extra flavors get lost. the one thing you can taste (other than salt) is if you add sugar--that's how you get turkey that tastes just like luncheon meat! (if, of course, that is what y ou want)

This is EXACTLY the reason that the french loaf was invented. Too big to eat raw? They'll be that much better on a poboy, dressed. It is truly a wonderful thing. ← oh man brooks, you really know how to hurt a guy. do you know it's lunchtime here?

i've had this a couple of times, both at the french laundry and at per se. i would never suggest that it is a revolutionary new idea that is going to sweep the wine world. but it is interesting the way decanting, thereby removing the bubbles, affects the flavor of the wine. it is a curiosity, but, of course, given the talent of those involved, a very delicious one.

that's an interesting perspective, but the opposite of mine. i agree that the textural issue is the big hangup for most beginners. that's why i think smaller oysters, which aren't quite such a mouthful, would be easier to swallow. i am a longtime and passionate oyster lover, but i have to admit that there have been a couple of times i've been handed appalachicolas as big as my hand that i had to take in two bites. that's just too much, even for me. also, i'd like to re-emphasize the importance of place with oysters, perhaps more than any other food (or drink) ingredient i can think of. when i was up doing the olympia story, one of the farmers swore that he could tell the difference between an oyster harvested at a bed that was at minus-1 low tide and one that was at plus-3 ... even though the oysters were identical and the beds were located within 100 yards of each other.

there are two main oyster varieties in the us: pacifics (which were imported from Japan in the mid 20th century) and the native easterns. kumamotos are a separate variety, as are olympias and flats (like belons). pacifics and easterns are usually labeled by the place they are grown (totten bay, Louisiana, Wellfleet, etc.). this is not hype, location makes a terrific difference. if kumos are regarded as the ideal beginner's oyster (and i wouldn't argue against that), i think it would have more to do with the smaller size than the flavor. i've had some pretty forceful kumamotos. it's just that with a big eastern, you get a whole mouthful of oyster, which can be a little overwhelming. personally, i prefer olympias, perhaps mostly for sentimental reasons as they are the only eating oyster native to the west coast. i'd describe them as a cross between a belon's flavor (notably coppery finish) and a kumo's size, even a little smaller. but i've enthusiastically enjoyed oysters from every variety. i'm easy that way.

the whole subject i find really fascinating. i think it's pretty generally acknowledged that the best australian product is the closest you can get to the japanese beef (in the us, it's only available at four restaurants--french laundry and per se, montage down here and craftsteak in vegas). but the other stuff we get is really good, too. and a whole lot cheaper. what are kobe prices in japan like now torakris? still over $100 a pound? at my neighborhood japanese market, american wagyu ribeye is about $30. this says something pretty interesting about the two cultures, i think: in america, we'll always go for a pretty good product at a (relatively) good price. in japan (and some other countries), damn the price, they would rather have a small amount of the very best (or what they consider the very best ... sometimes two different things). the point about feeding time is critical, too. in addition to having good bloodlines, great wagyu comes from the slow accumulation of fat. that's why it's marbled through the muscle rather than wrapped around the outside. this can take a year or more beyond the normal us slaughter age. that's a real commitment from the grower.

actually, according to the meat scientists i talked to, good american wagyu is prime plus. there is, of course, a wide range of quality and there might be some lesser stuff out there. prime carcasses average about 8% marbling while most wagyu are 10-12% and some even go up to 20%. on the 1-12 marbling scale, prime is about 4, while good american wagyu runs 6-9 (and the great stuff from snake river ranch in australia goes 9-12). this really is a remarkable product, i think. even the lean cuts i bought had great flavor--tri tip and even chuck.

by the way, this website is offering what seems to me to be a pretty incredible deal for your christmas roast ... at least my christmas roast. i've placed my order, but don't know anything about them other than they are recommended on the snake river farms website. but hey, 4 to 6 pounds of wagyu prime rib for $115? whoops, i ordereed that a couple of weeks ago. just checked the site and the current offer is a strip loin (boneless) 4-5 pounds for $169. still seems like a pretty good deal. uptown prime meats

that's great info torakris. of course, as i recall, what is called wagyu in japan is based the mixing of traditional carriage beef bloodlines with imported food beef as well. it was formalized as a recognized breed in the early part of this century. see this excellent article. history of japanese beef

grub, see my earlier post. i think the article budrichard was referring to is seriously out of date. as far as i know (and i did a big piece on this a couple of months ago), it is illegal for cattle to be moved from the us to japan, though this was certainly the mode pre 2002. in fact, the biggest raiser of wagyu beef in the us, snake river farms, got its start just that way. i wouldn't be surprised if after these new changes, it becomes popular again, as it is much more economical to raise beef in the us than in japan.

i've been a couple of times, so i'll speak up, warning that my opinion maybe should be taken with a grain of salt because i consider the chef, michael cimarusti, to be a friend. in my opinion, providence is one of the most exciting restaurants to open in southern california in quite some time. most of my favorite restaurants in southern california are either "ethnic" places or places that serve kind of upscale home cooking --aoc, campanile, etc. cimarusti is really reaching for something different and, considering how recently the restaurant has been open, i think he is succeeding remarkably. in ambition, i would compare this to teh french laundry, rather than chez panisse. This is certainly not to say that it is the equal of the french laundry, but that is the direction he is going and in a couple of years, who knows? this is NOT a seafood grill, but an experimental restaurant that focuses on seafood. the presentations are detailed and adventurous (i don't find them fussy because they almost always work; your mileage may vary). it is fairly expensive, but i think the quality/price ratio is very much in line (i don't remember exactly, but i'd guess a blow-out dinner with wine and appropriate tip would run $150 to $175 per person). the wine list is amazing--many great white food wines for under $45 a bottle. last time i was there they still seemed to be working out some front-of-the-house kinks--seemed like there were too many levels of servers without enough focus--but that is a very minor caveat.

they're not all that delicate. i've got a misono ux10 that i dearly love. and while i wouldn't use it to chop chicken bones or split a beef shank like i mgiht with my old wusthof, i certainly don't baby it. i've been using it regularly for more than a year and i've sharpened it maybe 2 or 3 times. i do steel regularly and for me that is enough to keep it plenty sharp.

please note that this article was written in 1998. the ban was put in place in 2002. as far as i know, it is against the law to transport beef (either parts or cattle) between Japan and the US ... until the new law takes effect. i'm afraid this new decision will mean higher prices, not lower. there is very little wagyu grown in the us--less than 10% of the Prime slaughter. because it sells for so much less than Japanese Wagyu (japan being a country almost ideally UNsuited for the growing of cattle), i'm sure american beef will be very popular over there. when there is an increased demand for a finite supply ... well, you don't have to be paul krugman to figure it out. as for getting real kobe (or other Japanese "cru" beef) here ... sure, if you can afford it. it is wildly expensive in japan already--$100 a pound and way more. Those prices, too, will only go up with an increased market.

those are all excellent suggestions, of course. but do be aware that the matsutake has a distinctly different flavor than what you may be expecting. most "european" mushrooms veer toward the earthy (porcini, truffles, etc). matsutakes are much more piney, even resinous, with a hint of something cheesy, almost brie-like. mushroom good david arora describes the flavor as a combination of red-hots and gym socks.

the brightness referred to the flavor: "directness" may have been a better word. maillard is certainly involved in the browning of the meat, but i'd be skeptical as to whether the quantity of fat was involved in that. maybe more important in this dish is caramelization, since it is the tomato sauce that is turning color from red to brick. quantity of fat would not have anything to do with that either. time is the key factor, as i think your experiment illustrated.

i'm not sure i'd cut back adam. maybe it's a difference in taste, but i like my ragu more the color of yours. to quote the francesconi recipe for ragu napoletano, the sauce should be "scurrissima, untuosa, lucida e densa", which i would loosely translate as "very dark, unctuous, shiny and thick."

i started to do a piece on this several years ago but never finished it. the predominant garden snail in california is the petit gris. they were introduced in the late 1800s by a frenchman who started a snail ranch in san jose. one day, he had a stampede (i kid you not). i cooked snails once with an italian woman who knew her way. they were disgorged for a week on lettuce (don't keep them in cardboard ... they can "chew" right through it). then she stewed them, in the shell, in a light tomato broth. she cooked them for at least a couple of hours ... the broth ended up being a brick red and you could smell the change in the snails when they were ready to eat. you eat them by pulling them from the shell with a small, hooked implement. the broth you soak up with bread. it was very good.

they might be good cut into slivers, wrapped in pork belly slices and grilled, the way they do enoki at my favorite yakitori.

they're not at all like matsutakes. matsutakes have a very distinctive flavor and aroma. that would be like suggesting substituting a button mushroom for a porcini. king oysters, or eryngii, are kind of odd mushrooms. the flavor is mild, like an oyster (to which they are closely related), but the texture is very firm, even fibrous. cook them and they're still crunchy. i like to use them for pickles as they don't go flabby.

this has been a fascinating discussion of etymology. the thing i learned when working on ragus was not about words, though, but time. in reading some recipes, you might get the impression that a ragu is not that different from a tomato sauce with meat in it. but the careful construction of the ragu--cooking the vegetables, cooking off the wine, cooking off the broth (if any), cooking the paste, etc. --results in something that doesn't really have much tomato flavor at all, at least not as you'd recognize it. it's slow cooking and the way the flavors change and meld is almost alchemical. i'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

many years ago when michel richard started using this puree, i did something on it. i started with the smaller amount of butter and it just didn't have the same silkiness. when i called him to ask him about it, he said with an almost inexpressible sadness "pas de beurre; pas de beurre." for the record, his version used equal weights butter and potato and no milk or cream. it was incredibly luxurious--not really about the potatoes, but about a new texture for butter.

well, my hat size just went up two notches. of course, i've had some pretty good editing from people who saw food and cooking as a broader and more challenging field than simply "dinner in 30 minutes" (not that there's anything wrong with that). i guess that's what i was hoping you would say--that the secret to attracting readers is trusting that they're as smart and as interested in all aspects of food as you are.

hmmm, so what you're saying is, we need to write good stories. i was hoping for something easier.

Hello Ms. Reichl, It has been more than 10 years since you edited a newspaper food section and what a busy decade it has been--for you, that is, maybe not for food sections in general. After your experience editing a national, food-focused magazine, I was wondering if you had any ideas about how newspaper food sections should move forward? Are we best serving our readers as general interest umbrellas, trying to please as many as possible--from time-pressed home cooks to high-rolling gourmets? Or would we be better served focusing on the relatively small percentage of our readers who are really devoted to the subject? How would we best do either one? Are there stories, angles, aspects left uncovered? Is there too much reworking of well-trod ground (well, forget that last one)? And have your thoughts on this changed since your days at the LA Times? best, rp